Rev. P. Ives of Northampton (UCC/ABC)

Inspired by the Inauguration 2009 Sermons and Orations Project of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center, the Globe invited local clergy to e-mail the texts of inauguration-related sermons and prayers for posting here on the Articles of Faith religion blog. You can find all of the submissions by clicking on the Inauguration Sermons category in the blog’s right rail.

Sermon by the Rev. Peter B. Ives, the senior minister of the First Churches of Northampton, a United Church of Christ and American Baptist Churches congregation:

"There are numerous reasons why people journey to Washington, but for many Americans, especially African Americans, it has been not just a physical journey, it’s been a journey of faith. Centuries ago the people of Israel were going through a period of enormous suffering, loss and pain. The city of Jerusalem had been pillaged and sacked, they lost everything they valued and held most dear, and they were taken from their homes into Exile. At that time the prophet Jeremiah cried out in lament, “My grief is beyond healing, my heart is sick within me, my heart is broken. Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no precious ointment to heal the wounded soul?”

Centuries later Africans who had been kidnapped from their homes and families, shackled and herded into large slave ships, chained, sometimes 500 hundred men, women and children together in hulls for a perilous ocean voyage that lasted over 2 months; poorly fed, provided no medical treatment or proper sanitary facilities and routinely beaten and abused, only to be sold as property to slave masters, upon landing; these slaves also living in Exile found an answer to Jeremiah’s question, and their answer was, “Yes, there is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”

This was more than just a physical journey, it was a journey of faith, a journey of being able to reach that point of being able to say in words paraphrased from the Bible and woven into their spirituals: “There is a balm in Gilead. Our God is able. With God all is possible. God will show us a way out of no way. Together we can. Yes we can. Together we shall overcome. Dr. Martin Luther King said it best when he said, “When our days are dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights darker than a thousand midnights, our God will make a way out of no way and transform our dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows and we shall overcome.” There are numerous reasons why people go to Washington , but for many it’s been this journey of faith.”

The Amistad Captives made this journey of faith to Washington in 1841. They were kidnapped Africans held captive in New Haven for taking over a slave ship called Amistad and demanding to be sent back to Africa. Financed by Abolitionists like Lewis Tappan from Northampton, lawyers, including former President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, took their case all the way to the Supreme Court and on March 9, l841 the court ruled in their favor. They were not property but free human beings, and while the decision didn’t end slavery for those already slaves in America, it was the first crack in the prison door and it was the inauguration of that audacious hope that our God is able and together we can.

Sojourner Truth made this journey of faith to Washington when she went to visit President Abraham Lincoln. Born into slavery in Hurley, New York around 1797

Sojourner came as a freed slave to Northampton in l843 and became a leader in the abolitionist movement and the movement for women’s rights here at The Northampton Institute for Education and Industry in Florence. The day came when she told friends, “”I’ve got to hurry this morning with my washing cause I’m leaving for Washington this afternoon to see the President.” Upon arriving in the White House she said to Lincoln, “I never heard of you before you were put in for president.” Lincoln laughed and said, I heard of you Sojourner years before I ever though of being president.” And her visit to Washington was the inauguration of that audacious hope that together we can.

Marian Anderson made this journey of faith to Washington in l939. She had one of the greatest soprano voices in the world, but when she applied to music schools as teenager she was turned down because she was black. She asked an opera singer to give her lessons but the teacher said, “No!” She was invited to give concerts around the world but she couldn’t find place to stay overnight because hotels closed their doors to her. Finally, in l939 she was invited to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington but the concrt was blocked by protesters. So Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Franklin, The President of the United States, called and invited her to sing in front of the Lincoln Memorial instead.

In her autobiograpy, “My Lord What A Morning” she tells how she felt at that moment. Suddenly she was scared, frightened at the though of what this would mean. She feared her voice wouldn’t sing now, or that the words wouldn’t come out. She was given the opportunity as an African American to go forward, but it was so hard to take these first steps. So many stones had been rolled up in the front of her door that had blocked her way as a singer.

But on Easter Sunday, April 9, l939 she walked out in front of the Lincoln Memorial with thousand upon thousands of people of all colors who had come to hear her. There in front of this huge crowd of people she sang, “My Lord! What a Morning” My Lord! What a Morning. Oh, my Lord! What a morning, When the stars begin to fall!

My dad made this journey of faith to Washington in August of l963. He went to hear The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his “I Have a Dream Speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “Peter, let us go together to Washington D.C. he said to me. But I was skeptical. I told him I didn’t think it was that important to go, but I promised to drive him to the New Haven train station where I help him board one of 27 buses heading to Washington to hear King. All that weekend, I thought about my Dad. “Why had I said no?” “Why didn’t I go?” And so that Sunday afternoon on August 28, 1963 I turned on my television set to see what was happening in front at the Lincoln Memorial. And when the television came on, what a sight it was!

There in front of the Lincoln Memorial were people of all colors, races and nationalities standing shoulder to shoulder, a gigantic coat of many color representing the rainbow of colors that was America. And though I couldn’t see my father, I knew he was there. And at that moment Dr. King stood up to speak: “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustration of the moment, I still have a dream.” It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream, that all are created equal. I have a dream that one day my four little children will live in a nation where they will not b e judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join together with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.” And at that moment tears filled my eyes and I began to cry and to cry and to cry. I knew at that moment why my father went to Washington and why he wanted me to go with him. My life that day changed. I vowed never miss the bus again.

So today, I am leaving for Washington with my family. We’re going to celebrate the election of America’s first African America as President of the United States. But this journey won’t just be a physical journey. And it won’t just be our journey. It will be the journey of all Americans. For this inaugural won’t be just about the inauguration of a President, it will be about the inauguration of a dream. the dream best expressed by Langston Hughes when he said years ago: “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—Let it be that great strong land of love. Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme, that anyone be crushed by one above. O let my land be a land where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, but opportunity is real, and life is free, and equality is in the air we breathe. Let America be America again! It is this journey of faith that we are all about to take with the Inauguration of President Barack Obama this Tuesday."